In the internet era, Matt Blake can reach the entire world, but sure, making South Stormont, Cornwall and the entire Seaway Valley a virtual home base for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers mania – 25 years after the show debuted – is one of his goals.

“I have a lot of prospective ideas on what to do with this,” said Blake, the founder/manager of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fan Realm, a website dedicated to the long-running superhero show.

“I grew up in Oshawa, so this whole area (along the St. Lawrence) feels like home.”

So maybe there’ll be a 2018 warm-weather tour, with stops at local community gatherings and fairs.

“Absolutely, that’s the idea,” Blake said. “There are a lot of (Power Ranger) fans (in the Seaway Valley), in places like Cornwall and Long Sault and Morrisburg. . . I had (a setup at a Prescott area mall) and I’m planning to do similar things (in communities along the St. Lawrence).”

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was an American live-action superhero children’s television series that premiered late in August of 1993, and it would become a 1990s pop culture phenomenon with a large line of action figures and other merchandise. With 2018 marking the 25th anniversary of the long-running superhero show, Blake recently started the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fan Realm to allow fans to connect, to tell their stories.

“In launching the site, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to many fans and discuss what the show means to them - I was really touched by some of these sentiments,” said Blake, 26.

The testimonials one the site are passionate and heartfelt. Tom wrote that “It’s what gave me confidence when I was a kid.”

Said Monte: “MMPR has been my childhood since I can remember, and today at 32, I’m still hooked on Power Rangers! If it ever ends it’ll be bittersweet.”

One of Blake’s earliest memories of Power Ranger mania was “begging” his parents to go to the store to get a Power Rangers toy.

“We got there, and they’d run out,” Blake said. “As a kid, that was traumatic.”

Even the Green Ranger – Blake’s favourite – was gone.

It could have ruined Christmas, but, luckily, Blake’s parents came through.

“They found one somewhere (at a store), and when you’re not expecting it, it makes the present even better,” he said.

Blake’s fan realm features a series review, a catalogue of his Power Rangers collection, fan testimonials and membership opportunities which include episode reviews, character discussions, retrospectives and contests.

Blake notes on his website that MMPR toy sales alone in 1994 generated over $1 billion.

“The (original) movie grossed over $100 million,” said Blake, who added that the show’s huge fan base bought over eight million copies of the initial home video releases.

A lot of Power Rangers shows have come along over the years, expanding the fandom, but Mighty Morphin still seems to be the most popular. And creating Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fan Realm is simply Blake’s way of celebrating the show.

“Power Rangers was my favourite show as a kid, and it still holds up today,” he said. “It’s something that simply makes me happy – as it does for many other fans. In life sometimes we just need to unabashedly celebrate the things that bring us joy.”